CBS’ new “Magnum P.I.” features a leading man with a goatee, but it sounds like star Jay Hernandez might shave off the chin-hair portion for Episode 2.
“We’re doing an homage to the mustache at some point,” Hernandez (pictured above) told a roomful of reporters Sunday at the Television Critics Association press tour.
Executive producer Peter Lenkov clarified that the nod will come in the freshman season’s second episode. Neither elaborated on the exact nature of the tip of the (Detroit Tigers) cap to original star Tom Selleck’s signature facial hair.
“I think trying to clone Tom Selleck, trying to do that ‘Magnum,’ is a slippery slope,” Lenkov said on why the mustache will be a fleeting acknowledgement as opposed to a job requirement.
Back in May, CBS executives were asked about the goatee vs. mustache thing, as well as the removal of the comma from the original title, “Magnum, P.I.”
“We debated the ‘Magnum’ thing for quite a bit, believe it or not,” CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl said back then about the latter issue. “There was a comma before, we’re taking the comma out this time to streamline things.”
“I think there’s a little science behind it, actually,” he continued. “In the new world of searching, commas are not your friends.”
When asked by a reporter about how “rigorous” the debate was about if new star Hernandez ought to copy Selleck’s trademark look, Kahl came up with the following:
“It’s a goatee, so it’s… half-mustache,” he said. “Thom [Sherman, a senior vice president] and I dictated that he have a goatee.”
“Magnum P.I.” will air Mondays at 9 p.m. this fall on CBS, leading in to “Bull.”